Light signal for railroads



Oct. 8, 1946. o. 15. FIELD LIGHT SIGNAL FOR RAILROADS Original Filed Sept. 8, 1951.

INVENT'. R

j ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED STATES trio]:

LIGHT SIGNAL FOR RAILROADS Oscar S. Field, Rochester, N. Y.-, assignor to General Railway Signal Company, Rochester, N. Y.

2 Claims.

The present application is a division of my pending application Ser. No. 561,802, filed September 8, 1931, for Light signals, now Patent No. 2,103,251 dated December 28, 1937, which latter application was a division of application Ser. No. 128,437, filed August 10, 1926, now Patent No. 1,835,150, dated December 8, 1931.

This invention relates to new improvements in light signalling apparatus.

An object of the invention is to provide a means for adjustably mounting a light signal on a signal pole, so that the emitted beam can be readily directed in any direction and retained securely in adjusted position.

With this and other objects in view, as may be more readily apparent from the following specification, and appended claims, I will now proceed 'to describe one embodiment of my invention. In the drawing:

"" single figure is a cross section through a 1.119 signal in accordance with this invention, showing the interior mechanism in side elevation.

fhe basic principle of the signal which con:- prises the utilization of a source of light together with means for concentrating said source through a second focal point, passing this light through a screen through this focal point and then projecting the same from a lens, is old in the art. The present invention consists more particularly of improved methods of construction and combination of the apparatus rather than in the basic light projection idea.

The optical principle above referred to in this embodiment comprises a source of light I in combination with an elliptical reflector 2 which is adapted to collect and concentrate the rays from the source of light i to a focal point 3. At this focal point colored spectacles or other screens are movably mounted and have the effect of changing the color or beam characteristic in accordance with the particular screen then intercepting the beam. The beam then diverges to cover a lens which is adapted to project the rays in a substantially parallel beam. In the present 5 embodiment of the invention the source of light 1 reflector 2 are carried in a holder 1 which mounted in the cover 6 of the mechanism case 3, thereby making this part of the signal removable with the mechanism.

The construction of the signal generally is as follows: An outer or main case it is provided and is equipped with a rear door H suitably .ged thereto at E2 and adapted to be locked in place by means of a latch I3 which engages with 55 the pin it in the case, being held in engagement by means of a spring 15. A sealing gasket iii is provided in such a manner that it will be compressed when the nut 11 is tightened down over the latch member 13, thereby making the case substantially water tight. A hasp l8 and staple 19 are provided so that the case may be suitably locked to prevent unauthorized tampering with the mechanism. 7

The front of the main case is provided with a recess 2% in which is mounted a suitable lens 5 with a sealing gasket 21 adapted to exclude moisture and dust. Where it is considered desirable, a spacer ring 22 is provided which in its turn has a recess 23 adapted to carry a spreader cover glass 2:11, this also being properly gasketed as shown atQb. In order to hold this spreader glass in place, the combination hood and lens ring 26 is provided, the whole assembly being held together by means of suitable screws 21 which pass through the members into tapped holes in the main case.

Attached to the hood ring Eli is a suitable hood 28 adapted to screen the surface of the spreader glass, or the lens where the spreader glass is not being used, from the direct rays of the sun thereby substantially eliminating reflection' of white light from these surfaces. On the top of the main case it a casting 29 is provided having upwardly extending parts 39 and 31 respectively. The part 311 is provided with a peephcle 32 and the part 31 is provided with a hole 33 and a coacting sight member M which will be described hereafter. The axes of the two holes 32 and 33 are arranged to be substantially parallel with the axis of the light beam.

Attached to the front of the signal case by means of suitable bolts 35 and spacers 36 is a suitable background 31 preferably made of sheet steel properly protected against corrosion. It is the purpose of this background to provide a black contrasting surface around the light when the signal is viewed in the day time, particularly when the angle of vision projects above the skyline.

The interior of the case is suitably painted with a black paint of low reflecting qualities in order to substantially eliminate reflection of light from the interior of the signal. It is further provided with suitable lugs 38 having holes 39 located therein which are adapted to properly locate the mechanism 36 in relation to the lens 5. The mechanism M1 is provided with suitable studs 4! adapted to engage in the holes 39 for this purpose.

In order that the signal may be properly aligned along the track, a special bracket member 48 is provided adapted to be clamped to the signal pole $9 at any desired point around or along the pole, by means of suitable U bolts 50 or in any other desirable manner. The hinge supporting member 5| is provided and is equipped with a downwardly extending fixed stud 52 adapted to pass through a hole 53 in bracket 43 which extends outwardly and away from the pole, and is provided with looking nuts 54, whereby the .bracket member maybe rotated about the vertical axis of stud 52 while bearing on 48, and locked in any suitable position by means of the nuts 54. By this arrangement provision is made for adjusting the direction of the projected beam ina horizontal plane. In order to adjust the beam in a vertical plane, the mechanism is pivoted to the hinge member M by means of suitable pivots 55. The front end of the main case IE3 is provided with a downwardly extending fixed stud ESE equipped with adjusting nuts 5?. A forward ly extending arm member 58, bifurcated at its outer end, is adapted to pass between the nuts 5'! and about stud 55, thereby providing means 1 whereby the signal may be adjusted and locked in a verticalplane.

1 The upper surface of the end part of 58 is formed with a spherical surface to match and always be in contact with the lower spherical surface of the upper nut til. As the center of gravity of the case is to the right of pivots 55, the case can be adjusted by first turning down lower nut 5i, then turning upper nut 51 in one or the other direction, and then tightening up on lower nut 51.

A wire outlet opening is provided in the main case H3 at 59 and a flexible conduit 60 may be used to protect the wires passing out of the signal case to the pole 39 and then through the nipple 6! into the hole in the well known manner.

While I have described one embodiment of the invention, it is well understood that many departures can be made from the specific details of .the structure without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention, I now claim? 1. In a support bracket for adjustably supporting light signal. casings and the like on signal poles, in combination, a curved plate, clamp means for adjustably clamping the plate to a pole at any desired point on the pole, a bracket extending from the outer face of the plate, an arm, means pivoting the arm to a casing, a stud fixed to the arm, a bore in the bracket snugly and rotatably receiving the stud, matching faces on the bracketand the arm, means for clamping the stud against rotation in the bore, an extending finger on the arm, an elongated open ended slot in the finger extending at right angles to the pivot for the arm, a stud fixed to the casing and passing through the slot, a clamp nut on the easing stud having a spherically curved face, a matching spherically curved face on the finger at the position of the slot with the two curved faces contacting, and a clamp nut on the casing stud 3 on the side of said finger opposite to the curved face.

2. In a support bracket for adjustably supporting light signal casings and the like on signal poles, in combination, a curved plate, clamp if means for adjustably clamping the plate to a pole at any desired point on the pole, a bracket integral with, and extending from, the outer face of the plate, an arm, means pivoting the arm to a casing, a stud fixed to the arm, a bore in the bracket snugly and rotatably receiving the stud, matching contacting concave-downwardly-facing spherical faces on the bracket and the arm, means for clamping the stud against rotation in the bore, an extending finger on the arm, a stud fixed to the casing, an elongated open ended slot inthe finger extending at right angles to the pivot for the arm, the casing studv passing 

